This invention relates to passenger safety belt restraint arrangements for a center seat in a vehicle including a shoulder belt with an adjustable support in the seat backrest.
It is generally known to use lap belts as restraint devices for center seats in motor vehicles. On the other hand, additional safety belts in the form of shoulder belts are provided for the outside seats. The combination of a shoulder belt and a lap belt provides far greater safety for the user than does a lap belt alone.
British Patent No. 2,278,535 discloses a passenger restraint arrangement in which a mount incorporating a belt guide element can move relative to a seat frame between a neutral position and a working position. The mount, which is slidable by a guide element along the seat frame, can be locked in various positions. In the working position, the mount projects beyond the upholstery of the seat and thus permits easy positioning of the shoulder belt across the body of the occupant.
German Patent No. 37 40 937 discloses an arrangement for mounting safety belts in which a belt guide element is associated with a rear shelf of the vehicle. This mount, which is supported on a sliding rod, is adjustable in height relative to the rear shelf and can be locked in various positions.
German Patent No. 34 01 529 describes an arrangement for adjusting an articulation point for a safety belt which can be located, for example, at approximately shoulder height in the vicinity of the B pillar or C pillar on the inside of the vehicle body. Depending on the height of the user, the articulation point for the safety belt can be moved upward or downward so that the shoulder belt is positioned correctly, not too high and not too low, on the user's body.
A shoulder belt can only have the desired safety effect if the belt can be put on correctly, which is to say that the upper articulation point of the shoulder belt must be adjustable in height to adapt to the body height of the user. Since appropriate options for attachment often are lacking in the vicinity of the center seats of a vehicle, shoulder belts frequently are not provided there. In some vehicle models, a third three-point belt is known having an upper articulation point which is connected either through a guide to a rear vehicle pillar or directly to the vehicle roof.